Various liquids, especially wines of general consumption, are often shipped in large containers, such as flasks or canisters of flexible plastic material, placed in crush-proof cardboard boxes. During transportation and storage, the containers are in an upright position and their spouts are closed by plugs that can be replaced by spigots or taps for decantation of their contents when the boxes have been tilted or laid on one side. After filling, the bottles are usually sealed with corks which are rather expensive and require a special applicator for their insertion into the bottle neck. Corkscrews are generally required for the subsequent extraction of the corks which as a rule are not reusable.